Joseph, spouse of Mary - Ken Eaton

An angel came to Mary and proclaimed
That God had chosen her to bear a child
Who truly would be Son of God, for He
Would be conceived by the Holy Spirit’s act.

To illustrate God’s power, he told her that
Elizabeth, a woman of her kin,
Though on in years, had yet conceived a son
And now was in the sixth month of her time.

So Mary had made haste to be with her
In those last stages of her pregnancy.
And Joseph brought her there, as was his right.

Three months had passed, and Joseph now had come
To take his bride back home to Nazareth.
But great was his amazement then to learn
That she had now been pregnant three whole months.

He dared not think that she had played him false;
And yet he could not quite believe the word
That Mary and Elizabeth proclaimed
About the way the Child had been conceived.

If what they said was true, he saw himself
As quite unworthy to be spouse of her
Whom God had favoured so. And he resolved
To set her free from any bond to him.

But God had other plans, and in a dream
An angel came and said, ‘Don’t be afraid
To take your promised bride to be your wife,
Because the Child within her womb has been

Conceived by action of the Holy Spirit;
And God has chosen you to nurture him.
You are to call him Jesus, since his role
Will be to save his people from their sins.’

When Joseph woke, he took the angel’s word
As God’s command, and, faithful to his call,
He took her to his home. From that time on
They lived as man and wife in Nazareth.

The gospels have no record of his words,
But, ever in the background, Joseph lived
The silent consort of God’s Mother, and as such
The foster-father of the Son of God;
And that is why the faithful honour him.